NaLu Week 2014
by TheWriterWithHalfABrain
Summary: My little contribution for NaLu week 2014. Please R/R! Each rating varies with prompt, but it ranges from K to T. Day 7 (Last day): Future [Day 6 still incomplete!]
1. Day 1: Gifts

**Prompt 1: Gifts**

**Rating: K**

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><p>On Lucy's birthday, Natsu's gift was rather selfish.<p>

It was July 1, 4:27 PM. He heavily knocked on Lucy's apartment door—usually, he would have simply entered through her window, but she didn't seem to like it very much when he did. It was her special day, so he didn't want to put her in a bad mood.

Lucy opened the door, shocked to find Natsu standing there behind it with a hand behind his back. She cocked her head, and Natsu marveled at how lucky he was to have caught her at home that day. The guild had thrown a big party for her, but Lucy had left early because she hadn't felt very well, unfortunately.

Natsu greeted her with one of his trademark grins. He held out a white box to her in one hand, mentioning that he never got the chance to give her her present.

Lucy gazed down at the small gift, and she took it from his hand and opened it. She gasped in delight, removing it immediately and slipping it over her hand. Natsu couldn't resist buying it for her; the gold bracelet had pretty gems that reminded him of fire and stars at the same time. It was perfect for Lucy, and he hoped it would remind her that he'd always be with her, even if they were apart.

But the real reason he got it was for himself—it had been expensive, but when her face broke out into such a pretty smile as radiant as the sun itself, he had to beam back at her.

Her happiness was priceless and spread like wildfire, and he was greedy and fed off of it.

He'd do anything to see her smile. Jewels were nothing compared to that.

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed that~ I may or may not write longer stories for the other prompts, depending on my muse. For now, I hope this was a good start for my tribute to NaLu week 2014! c: Please review!<strong>


	2. Day 2: Vulnerability

**Prompt 2: Vulnerability**

**Rating: K+**

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><p>Lucy never thought that Natsu could have ever been so hopeless.<p>

He was at his breaking point—one step further and he would go insane. She watched him, curled up in his little ball, rocking back and forth in the corner. His onyx eyes were bloodshot, dried out, and sagging from lack of sleep.

"It... It can't be..."

Shaky mumbles escaped his chapped lips, and Lucy was scared to go near him. Even _Happy_ hadn't tried to comfort him—and that was saying something.

He had been this way ever since he found out that Igneel was dead.

It had been one whole day, and Natsu was a wreck; Lucy had never known that he could be so damn _cold_.

But she saw herself in him. He was acting like she had when she learned of her father's death—alone in the darkness, with no hope to lead her back. She thought everything was lost until Natsu appeared with his goofy grin, a candle in the depths of despair.

And, realizing this, she realized just how much he needed someone right then. He lived for his comrades—his family.

So, she approached him and wrapped her arms around him slowly, not panicking when he suddenly stiffened from the touch. Lucy knew he needed and wanted this, and she had to be the one to give it to him. After all, he had done the same for her.

"I'm here for you," she whispered tenderly, running her fingers through his pink hair and pressing his face into her neck.

He let his emotions pour out in the form of salty tears and cried, feeling safe in his teammate's arms. They understood one another.

And the darkness was lit by a star shining in the night sky.

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><p><strong>I feel like a lot of people would have written about vulnerable Lucy, but this was the first thing I pictured when I saw the prompt. :'D<strong>

**I'm not sure how long these will be—at this rate, they'll all be less than five hundred words. Maybe more, but nothing greater than one thousand.**

**Thanks for reading!~**


	3. Day 3: Ribbon

**Prompt 3: Ribbons**

**Rating: K**

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><p>"Hey, Lucy, why don't you wear your hair thingy anymore?"<p>

"Huh?" Lucy glanced over at her teammate, who was absentmindedly toying with her golden locks. She snapped her head forward to slip her hair out of his fingers, her face turning red at his touch. "What do you mean, my 'hair thingy'?"

Natsu frowned as the silky, blonde stands escaped him; he had liked how soft Lucy's hair was. It had smelled good, too. "You know, those things you'd put on your ponytail or whatever it was called... Erm, I think it was a... A _ribbon!_ Why don't you wear that now?"  
>Her bows? Lucy hadn't worn one in her hair ever since they had returned from Tenroujima Island a while back. She thought it made her appear more childish, so she ditched them. Of course, she wasn't doing any better in the maturity department with <em>pigtails,<em> she realized, but whatever. "I don't know. No one really said anything great about them, so... I stopped putting them on."

"Well, you should do it again." Natsu suggested.

"Why's that?" Lucy asked, making short eye contact with him. She gulped, nervous to hear what he had to say.

His mouth turned up at the corners, and he replied, "You looked better with them. Well, it's not that you don't look nice _anyway_, because you _do_, but—"

What drug was Natsu _on?_ This wasn't the Salamander she knew, but she still felt her face heat up considerably. Did he just technically call her _**attractive?**_ Were his cheeks more pink than before, or was it just the orange sunset playing tricks on her?

"—uh, they make you seem more like _Luce_, since you wore them the day we met, ya' know?" He ceased his babbling, flashing his trademark grin at her. Okay, maybe he wasn't _completely_ out of it today.

She couldn't help but smile back, even if she was getting slightly worried for her best friend. She couldn't forget the day she met him—her current crush, she had admitted to herself at the Grand Magic Games—if she tried. "I remember."

The next morning, Natsu seemed extra happy when Lucy walked into the guild with her usual pigtails tied with blue ribbons.

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><p><strong>OOC Natsu is OOC—I tried as hard as I could. ;A;<strong>

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little scene for day three. There will be longer ones up for some of the next prompts, I promise. Oh, and expect some angst next time, because I think that's the route I'm going down for day four.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Day 4: Promise

**Prompt 4: Promise**

**Rating: K to K+**

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><p><strong>{Listen, my dear son, as I tell you what you need to hear...}<strong>

Natsu stomped his way back from the guild, shivering. It was a warm summer day in the city of Magnolia, but for some reason, he sensed a disturbance of sorts in the air. Today, everything was cold and held the sting from Gray's ice in battle. The city hadn't retained its usual cheerfulness, he noticed as he walked the dim streets and looked up into the grey sky.

_A storm is coming._

He was careful not to slip on icy sidewalks or sludgy streets while traveling to that place. It was nothing all that special to him, anyway. Which was ironic.

_His own house doesn't even seem friendly, not in the way that Fairy Tail is._

You'd think that, after living in the same shack for so long, it'd hold some sort of significance to the dragon slayer. It should feel comfortable, right? It was his resting place, and it had been ever since he arrived in Magnolia oh-so-long ago.

But it wasn't his _home_. The only place that was like that was with his nakama.

_Unbeknownst to him, that had all changed with the grasp of a hand_.

Natsu finally made it back to the clearing that could technically count as his "property"—filled with ash, sweat, blood, tears, and anger. Most of the trees were burned to the ground, probably from training. Or maybe during an outburst of some sort. He wasn't really sure.

However, there was one certain tree that remained, tall and proud. This area usually looked messy and disheveled, but when the clouds loomed overhead, it gave off an ominous, post-apoctalypyic feeling. Especially that lone tree, standing strong and living in the middle of disaster.

He sat in its shade, leaning against the sturdy trunk and allowing Happy to curl up in his lap for some rest. Today was a rare occurrence for Natsu. As soon as he awoke, memories started flooding back to him—ones of Igneel and his few years as his foster son. Before he was Salamander.

_The wind carried him away without a sound, and I never even noticed..._

Back then, every day was a new adventure. He always knew that the sun would shine, there wouldn't be such a thing as cold, and he would learn something important from his dragon father.

_... How could you leave me? _Why _did you leave me?_

How could Natsu have let him disappear in the blink of an eye?

The weather was like this on that day. The heat and humidity were sweltering, but he thought he was going to get frostbite or freeze to death without Igneel to warm him up.

_He promised me he wouldn't go. He lied to me._

**{Some promises are made to be broken...}**

So, there he sat for seconds, minutes, hours on end, staring into nothing. There was no measurement of time where he was. Only the beat of his heart and the roar of a dragon.

...

"Natsu? What are you doing here?"

He knew that voice. It was _her_. God, did he need to see her right now.

He turned to see Lucy staring down at him with a troubled look on her pretty face. She had pink on today. _His_ pink.

It suited her well.

"We've all been worried for you..."

_Dad, years ago, I made a promise. One that I'm not breaking anytime soon._  
>"Sorry, Luce," he apologized, scratching the back of his head and giving a half-hearted smile. She did the same, with her eyebrows creased in worry.<p>

"Cheer up, Natsu... Wow, I never thought I'd ever say that..."

The sun was setting, and night would soon fall upon them.

"Hey, follow me back to the guild. We've all got something to show you," she told him, winking and holding her hand out to him.

Happy stirred in his lap, immediately jumping up. "Natsu, let's go!" he chimed, grinning.

The teen took her hand and beamed. "Alright!"

Lucy giggled, pulling him up and dragging him along, probably all too unaware that she was still holding on.

Natsu, however, felt that certain warmth again as he tightened his grip.

_This_ was home.

**{... But others are meant to last an eternity.}**

_No matter what, I'm going to protect Luce._

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><p><strong>Ugh, I pretty much rushed on this one in order to get it in on time. I hope it's good enough. : Maybe I'll re-do it someday. Maybe.**

**So, here's a quick interpretation on the awkward breaks:**

**_Italics- _Natsu's/Narrarator's thoughts. It's a weird combination.**

**{Brackets and Bold}: Igneel**

**I swear, they'll get better and longer. At least, day six should. Most likely day seven as well. I've just got a thing with deadlines. I hate them, and they hate me.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Day 5: Dare

**Prompt 5: Dare**

**Rating: T, to be safe.**

**(Also, there's one line that's Gruvia if you squint.)**

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><p>"Oi, Natsu, I've got a challenge for you," Gray said to the pink-haired male sitting beside him, resting his chin in his hand.<p>

Natsu scowled at first, but a gleam of mischief twinkled in his eye and he smirked. "Oh, yeah? And what would that be, ice prick?"

Gray looked smug as ever. He knew the dragon slayer couldn't back out of something he suggested, and this was going to embarrass him to no end. "I dare you to kiss Lucy."

Natsu nearly choked on his drink, but that didn't stop his spit take. "You want me to _kiss Lucy?"_ he whisper-shouted, his fist aching to punch the other square in the jaw. He had been confused about his feelings towards the blonde for the past month or so; he no longer wanted to make her feel bad about herself or tease her about her weight (actually, her model-like body had been sticking out in his head way too often for him to even think of her as fat.) And he'd been getting these weird urges—he wanted to touch Luce more than before and in a gentler way. Not only that, Natsu liked to think that he didn't have as much of a sex drive or dirty mind as other men, but his imagination had gone a little too... _Wild_ lately. And it was all about his too-attractive-for-her-own-good partner.

He shook his head to rid his mind of such things. About a week ago, Gray Fullbuster (of all people!) had finally confronted him about his strange attitude around the Heartfilia, and Natsu ended up spilling... Well, most of it. Unfortunately, Gray was a male as well, and he knew exactly what the fire mage had been thinking when his voice trailed off and his cheeks flared bright red.

When he was told he was probably in love with Lucy, everything in his dense mind clicked. He knew he'd regret telling his rival about it sooner or later, and he was starting to think that certain moment would be right then.

"Yeah, you've gotta do it," Gray told him, breaking him out of his thoughts. "And not just anywhere, either. Right on her lips. Oh, and it can't be the ones you've tried before. A _real_ kiss, _Salamander_."

He growled. Was it just him, or was Gray being _extra_ annoying today? "Fine, you win, freeze pop," he succumbed, standing.

Gray smiled truimphantly. "Alright. Right over there." He pointed in Lucy's general direction. "Get it, flame brain." Then, he shoved Natsu towards her and relaxed for the show.

"You—" Natsu wasn't able to finish before he nearly crashed into the girl of the day. "Whoops, sorry, Luce!"

"Watch where you're going, Natsu!" Lucy nagged, looking him in the eyes. He gulped and tried not to let his thoughts turn to mush.

"It was Gray's fault!" he whined, directing his gaze to the floor. "He wants me to do something... stupid."

Lucy's brown hues narrowed at Gray, who held his hands up in surrender. "And just what would _that_ be?"

"He wants me to..." Natsu trailed off when he got a good look at her face. She wasn't wearing piles of makeup like usual, and Natsu always thought she was much prettier when she looked more human than doll-like.

But were her lips always so plump and soft?

"What?" She asked, tilting her head. "Hey, are you alright?"

Instead of giving a verbal answer, Natsu wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in, emitting a gasp from her. "What are you—"

He leaned in and placed his rough lips to hers, his eyes shut. Suddenly, it was like his already sharp instincts were heightened, and anything having to do with her was all he could process. She tasted like cinnamon, he noted—and he had always had a fondness for anything spicy.

After a few seconds, he pulled away, slightly pink and out of breath. Lucy's face was the color of a tomato, and she was stuttering broken words and phrases. "Bu—I—What—Natsu?"

"... That's all!" he announced, grinning at her and proudly striding back to his seat, trying to ignore the fact that everyone was staring and that he may have heard a few cat calls during the kiss.

"That's _ALL?"_ she yelled, flabbergasted. She wasn't sure if it was because she thought his statement was an understatement or an over-exaggeration.

Gray quickly recovered from shock. "Damn, I never thought you'd _actually_ do it."

"Me either," Natsu admitted, sitting back down and smirking as Gray took another drink. "Which is why you're gonna do the same with Juvia."

Water flew everywhere.

"W-_WHAT?!"_

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><p><strong>I really enjoyed writing this, actually. I might make a longer, better-written one-shot for it. And excuse my fail at the kiss—I've got virtually no experience in the romance field, much less what it's like to kiss someone. xD I'm sorry if they're extremely OOC.<strong>

**Also, a short, silly omake:**

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><p>Lucy touched her burning lips, her heart still pounding from the sudden occurrence.<p>

... Maybe she _hadn't_ wasted her money on that cinnamon-flavored lip balm after all.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please review~ cx If everything goes according to plan, tomorrow's story will be good and long.<strong>


	6. Day 6: Effulgence (unfinished product)

**Prompt 6: Effulgence**

**Rating: K**

**Note: This is still incomplete. I just wanted to get a part of it in by the deadline so you'd have an idea of what the rest would be like. .A. Excuse any errors; I didn't proofread as well as usual or ask others about grammar.**

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><p>The sun's rays shined through Lucy's open window, bringing along a slight, cool breeze with it. She could only hear a few sounds from the street: tires rolling on the street, but not too loudly; children laughing, but nothing obnoxious; birds chirping high-pitched, melodic tunes that Lucy could listen to for hours. It was the perfect scenario for noontime in summer.<p>

Despite her fondness of the outside atmosphere, that day was proving to be rather strenuous for her. She had long procrastinated on updating her story, and she was going with the rest of the gang on a well-paying mission the following day. She usually wrote about each job in her book (plus quite a few _special_ events), and her gut feeling said that this one would be an interesting one, indeed. She would need to take a lot of time for it, but to do that, she needed to get her previous experience out of the way.

To be honest, though, the last request she had taken had been rather boring—it was more of a guarding mission, and it was just with Natsu and Happy. In fact, she considered not writing about it at all. Frankly, it had been uneventful and boring, and she didn't think there would be anything exciting to keep the readers (Levy) interested that chapter. But, seeing as how she was a part of Fairy Tail, her characters never really got a break from the action. They were always being put on the front lines, constantly willing to sacrifice themselves for their friends and loved ones. They deserved a break from all the action, she decided, and if that was this job, so be it. She'd bear through it and find some way to make it intriguing in one way or another.

She glanced down at the piece of parchment she was currently writing on, tapping her pencil against the desk and biting her lip as she wondered where to go from there. There was only a few paragraphs of words scrawled down, and she had no clue as to where to go next. This was her third draft that day! Lucy clicked her tongue, deep in thought about what to do with it if she was so clueless. She set her pencil on the table as she came to a decision.

She wadded the paper up, aimed, and threw it to the garbage bin.

_Clunk!_

It bounced off the metal rim and landed on the floor, where another one of her past writing attempts from that morning resided.

She sighed in irritation, rubbing her temples as a dull pain began to throb in her head. If there was anything worse than writer's block, the blonde mused, it was writer's block with a migraine on the side. She lay her head on her arms, which rested on the wooden surface, and buzzed her pink lips, considering the possibility of just giving up on the scene and packing for the trip tomorrow before going to the guild. It was tempting, but Lucy knew that if she didn't write a more level chapter soon, there wouldn't be one in the book for at least fifty more pages. Constant action could be a very good thing to have in a novel, especially because it kept the audience on the edge of their seats and yearning to know more, but she firmly believed her characters deserved a calm, just-for-fun part. She had personally felt a connection with all of them, due to knowing their real-life counterparts, and she'd never force anything on her actual friends.

After a few more minutes, Lucy settled on scrapping the last mission and simply making up a scenario on her own. Then, she would see where it went and go wherever her muse took her. That sounded simple enough. But there was one problem.

What on Earthland was she going to write about?

Her brown orbs scanned her room until they finally landed on something right in front of her: a dictionary.

She mentally slapped herself for not spotting the blatantly obvious hardcover earlier. Lucy always kept some sort of edition of a reference book nearby while she wrote for several reasons, like if she was ever in a pinch and needed to define a certain word before using it. She also used it if she ever needed inspiration.

If she found a word that stuck out to her, could it help her?

Curiously, she opened the thick book to a random page, landing somewhere in the "D" section. She glazed over each word, some of which had rough notes beside them. In addition to her other needs for it, Lucy also found that the dictionary helped her get her characters right. If she felt they weren't acting as they should or did, she searched for words that described them. Printed names littered the pages as she turned them. A few contenders popped up, but they didn't really feel right to her.

Soon, she got to "E." It was only a page or two in that she found it.

**Effulgence-1) ****_noun. _****A radiant, stunning light; brightness taken to the extreme, usually used to refer to the sun or some other sort of mega-star**

**Ex. ****_The effulgence of the sun nearly blinded her._**

The name written beside it made her shut the book out of embarrassment:

_Natsu_

Her face heated up considerably as she let out some shaky, pent-up laughter. "Eheheh..."

That was something she couldn't show anyone, not even Levy. It really wasn't the fact that it itself was strange; the reason behind why she put his name was what concerned her.

He was more than just a fire dragon slayer. Honestly, she didn't know what he was to her.

The salmon-haired boy was most certainly and without a doubt her best friend. She had great friends, like Levy, Mira, Juvia, and everyone else, of course. But Natsu was the one who brought her to Fairy Tail. He saved her from a slave ship, her father, Phantom Lord, and even herself. When Lucy felt that she was lost and alone, with nowhere else to turn, he would appear and bring a smile back into her life: his smile. That in itself was enough to make her see the clear picture.

Natsu Dragneel was brighter than the wildest fire in every way possible, and he was her light. Her effulgence.

She lay her head back on her arms and counted the ticks from the little clock, like sheep.

_Tick, tock. Tick, tock._

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><p><strong>I guess that was a good enough teaser, right? ^^'<strong>

**I swear I'll finish this soon. I'm just no good with deadlines; they stress me out. I knew I couldn't finish the whole thing by the end of today, so I promise it'll be finished soon. This is why I only wrote drabbles for the last few days. If I went all out, I'd never get done. :/**

**Basically, it'll switch to Natsu's POV next and give a little scene with him and Luce (well... Kind of.) It will also explain how she is effulgence to him. :3**

**Please review on how you think it is so far! I'd really appreciate it. Like I said, once I've finished the whole thing, I'll proofread everything and correct the mistakes. Please bear with me, okay? :S**


	7. Day 7: Future

**Prompt 7: Future**

**Rating: K**

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><p>"Hey, Natsu?"<p>

"Yeah, Luce?"

"What do you think the future holds for us?"

"What do ya' mean?"

"Well... Do you think it's going to be good?"

"'Course it is!"

"What about the dragons? About Rogue? About _me?"_

"We all saved each other."

"But what if that happens again, Natsu? I... I'm scared. If we don't stop Rogue from going insane..."

"We will. Don't worry about it."

"..."

"Luce, I'd rather think about what's right in front of us, right now, than the future."

"Why?"

"Because I know whatever Fairy Tail's gonna do, we'll all end up okay. We'd never let anything bad happen to our nakama."

"... You're right. Thank you."

"Welcome."

_Because now I know that no matter where fate leads us..._

_No matter what happens next..._

_I'll turn out okay..._

_It'll be fine..._

_**... As long as I still have you.**_

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><p><strong>And yes, that's both of them thinking at the same time at the end.<strong>

**I actually don't plan on adding more to this one. I feel that it's short, sweet, and simple. Just the way I want to end this.**

**Still, I hope you guys stay tuned. Like I said before, I still need to finish day six's story, and I may go in and add more to the other prompts as well. ^~^**

**Thanks for reading!**


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